Zagreb, Croatia Day 1

Zagreb, Croatia Day 1

We arrived in the capital city after a pleasant bus ride. The ride took about 6 hours and was a bit hot, but the scenery was something else. Croatia's heartland is filled with rolling hills littered with glorious mountain peaks. The road took us through some long tunnels that burrowed through the mountains. We stopped once with a lookout over a lake and the weather was perfect. As you may recall, we have a little problem with the bus driver mentioning at the stops how long we have until they leave. It helped to ask someone that speaks English to translate, so we arrive back to the bus on time. After that close call, we do not mess that up. Be on time! The bus dropped us off in the rainy capital. Once there, we took the tram to the stop close to the hostel. It was just a short walk in the drizzle to the location. Once we arrived, we were amazed at this new place. The hostel is situated in a 15 story building with the first two floors being hostel space. The rest belongs to other people or businesses. This place has been torn down to the bare walls and rebuilt. Everything is new and in prime working order. Most places we have seen are repaired with a patchwork of repairs on top of others. This place is tiled, re-plumbed, and has all new cookware. In this town of worn historic buildings people will love and appreciate all the work. Hopefully this place does well. It would have been easy to pass up this city since it is not on the super popular list of places to go. We are glad that we stopped. The tram system is near perfect and the shops are quite interesting. Tomorrow we will take a short stroll around and leave the next day. The mountain to the north is close, but I do not think we will have time to get up there. Mountain bikes are a big hit here. People are using them for commuting and surely there has to be some great trails. Most likely, if it is like Brasov, you just have to ask, and you will find. The forest and terrain has changed entirely. We have left the beach and thicker vegetation for taller trees and cooler temperatures.

It sure is nice to have left some people on the trip. It would be neat to somehow follow them and see what other people's reactions are to them. A ghost blog would be neat to trace the interactions of the most annoying people. After a week of interviews, maybe people might see how ridiculous they are. Most likely not. I should have interviewed the people at Split about our abrasive friends. The responses would be spectacular. This little group of travelers will always have a special place in our hearts.

One thing that bothers us is Americans that say they have told others they are Canadian. For real? This one guy from, of all places, Houston, mentioned this to us tonight. Maybe in the 80's this might have been a good idea with the whole Canadian flag patches. Possibly, it could have saved you from the communists or kidnapping, but now? Travel now is something different and being an American is something you should be proud of, not hide. Trust me, it seems like every country you go to, people love to tell you where they are from and are darn proud of it. Is it not cool to do this as an American? You can be proud, but be respectful of their culture and country as well. The next person that says this to me, I am going to mess with them a bit and get to the bottom of their cowardliness. If you don't agree with American politics, that's one thing. No one we run into has, but to disown your country, maybe you should find a place and stay there. Please do so. There is no security risk where we have been. Also, if you have a flag, fly it. Every other country does. Sing the Star Spangled Banner as well, you might just like it.